This project is part of the Black History Month celebration because it supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of the students are Black.
My Students
"I believe in myself, we believe in our teachers, we believe in each other." This quote is a line from our student creed. At our school, students have dreams of doing amazing things after high school, but currently lack the resources to be competitive.
"Thank you for saving my son's life." Those were the words of a parent whose son started in our school in September.
This student had previously failed, skipped school regularly, and was disengaged from learning and his future. He came to our school and we were able to offer him an environment without distractions. Our school is the first all boys' public school in a large urban district in upstate NY. The majority (80%) of our young men receive free or reduced lunch. Our population is 85% African America, 10% Hispanic, 2% White and 3% other.
We are based on five assets of positive character and leadership including: respect, integrity, loyalty, accountability and courage. Our students have goals of attending college, joining the military and entering the workforce after high school. The primary focus of our school is to engage young men in goal setting and post-secondary exposure early in their high school career so that they may be better prepared to make responsible decisions.
My Project
Unfortunately, as a large urban district, our technological needs cannot keep up with the constant development of new technology. We lack the resources to make students competitive in the growing world of technology. The students I work with want to go to college.
The current project is geared towards helping students set goals with the use of technology. For first generation college bound students, the college search process can be cumbersome. Students don't know what they don't know. Quick access to technology makes it much easier to search for college and careers, especially for young men and their interactive minds.
This project will offer a trial period for young men to use an iPad2 to research an initial list of potential careers and colleges they wish to pursue. The more students are exposed to the information they need, the better equipped they are to be competitive.
The students in our school come from families who struggle to meet their basic needs.
Technology and Internet access is not always available at home and the access to these resources at school is also limited. This project is important because it will allow our school to collect data on how well technology can help prepare young men for their futures. The hope is that this data may then be used to encourage district stakeholders to provide more support to our students in this area.
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Andler and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.